Social media is a breeding ground for epically low self-esteem, comparisonitis and basically wishing you were anyone else. Being bombarded on a daily basis by the supermodel instagrammers, the jetsetters who globetrot with their entourage of cats and funny memes and even your colleague with the new blindingly white smile, it’s a wonder we can even get up in the morning.

How do we accept ourselves when everyone else seems to be skinnier, happier and richer or spending time with someone who is skinnier, happier and richer than they are?

Self-acceptance is a magical force—the more we lean into it, the more we flourish and flower and thrive.

Here are 3 ways to start accepting yourself (so you can stop feeling bad by what everyone else is doing) and feel happier in your own skin!

1. Let go of resistance to what is. Resistance looks like wishing, hoping, denying, criticizing, cursing, raging against, forcing, ridiculing, belittling, shaming, ignoring, depriving and disconnecting. The things about you that you can’t change are: height, age, race, orientation and past experiences. Not a long list is it? Sit with those aspects of yourself and say: I accept that I am ….. and read out these aspects. Spend every day accepting and acknowledging these aspects of yourself. When you feel comfortable with that, you can move into: I love that I am … read out the same aspects.

2. Ask yourself what you’re unhappy with. Is it your weight? Your income? Your relationship status? All these things you can change. BUT FIRST YOU HAVE TO ACKNOWLEDGE AND ACCEPT THEM THE WAY THEY ARE RIGHT NOW. Ok, so I’m 180 lbs right now. I’m making $40,000 per year. I’m single. Say these things out loud. This is where the saying “say it like it is” comes in. You have to look at your life with an honest lens. You have to accept what is.

3. Release the emotional charge around the sticky points. If you’ve always had a problem with your weight or if you can’t find a healthy relationship then there are a lot of emotions tied up in that experience. In order to change anything, you have to clear the barriers in the way of making change: negative emotions and beliefs. Use tapping (tap on one point and tell the story of that experience until you have a release) to let go of the emotions surrounding your weight, relationship status and income situation. From there you can actually move forward and start making changes.

One last point about all the fabulous, beautiful and fancy free people on social media. They deserve to be happy too don’t they? If they become unhappy or suddenly aren’t as beautiful as they were or lose all their money, would all that goodness transfer to your life? No. So stay in your own lane, but wave and blow kisses to all those beside you. They all want what you want: to live a happy and fulfilling life. Let’s cheer each other on.

Why is it that as humans we create endless ways to kibosh our own health and happiness? Are we just a bunch of weirdos on our way to the Masochist’s Ball?

One surefire way to find out: peruse this list and see how many yeses you tick off. If it’s 5 out of 5 then I’m not sure there is any help for you. Kidding! Awareness is the key to pulling yourself off the merri-go-round of misery and placing you onto the clear path of wholeness and freedom.

Here are five ways you may be stopping yourself from getting there:

1. Blaming others. The easiest thing to do at times is to point your trusty finger at “all the things I didn’t have growing up”, “my family doesn’t support me” or any other reason you deem responsible for your current situation. The act of blaming others robs you of your own personal power and keeps you in a spin cycle of resentment, disappointment, and frustration. When we can accept that we have 100% choice in every single moment to do what we need to do for ourselves, we will make progress.

2. Doing all the things. If you’re constantly leaping from one diet to another, working with umpteen different healers, cleansing every orifice and basically grasping at every straw there is, your body, mind and spirit will be in a constant state of upheaval. You need to tune in and listen to what you need and work with one healer you trust until you see some movement. A hundred methods and modalities are not better than one process that feels right. Stick with a plan and stay with it until you see changes.

3. Expectations. Do you expect your symptoms to go away in a blink of an eye even though it took decades to create them? Are you hoping that if you find the right healer, method or modality, all problems will disappear after one or two sessions? Yes, miracles happen and we can heal “spontaneously”, however we need to lay the groundwork for this to occur. You need to prepare yourself physically, mentally and emotionally to be well. It sounds funny, but this is everything.

4. Letting negativity take over. We all have sour puss days where we want to grumble and whine and say things like: I’ll never get better! I’m doomed to a life of hell! I hate my life!

We need to honour that—let those emotions out and keep going. Never let these negative thoughts and emotions paint the backdrop of your experiences. It’s like mixing black paint into all the rainbow colours. Give yourself permission to spew out the ugliness in a healthy way (journaling, tapping and talking to a trusted mentor) and then focus on what you want to create.

5. Being a hater. How often do you berate your body? Do you criticize and reprimand yourself for not being good enough? Are you constantly telling yourself that you screwed up again—you should’ve stuck with your plan? This is by far the most damaging pattern. Your body is your companion in this lifetime and is trying to make you happy. Your body responds to all the thoughts and beliefs and emotions that you feed it (the same way it responds to the food that it receives; garbage in, garbage out). So, if you don’t like what your body is doing, take an honest appraisal of what it has to work with.

This list is meant to help you see that the world is not against us and that there is no conspiracy to keep you stuck and miserable and sick. When we know better, we do better. So, if you are doing any of these five things to hinder your progress, now is the perfect time to stop doing them.

If you need help with your healing journey and are ready to focus on wholeness and freedom send me a message or comment below. May you find exactly what you need.

Maybe it’s been a weird day … or week … or most of your thirties bit the big one.

If it seems like you’ve drifted away from who you are … only to find yourself on a desert island of WTF: don’t worry! There is a raft heading your way right now.

First, we need to look at the root cause of why we feel off in the first place. Like how did we end up here with our tattered shirt wrapped around our head, trying to spear fish with our house key?

How did we end up feeling like a completely unrecognizable version of ourselves?

1. What are you doing to throw yourself off?

Take a long hard look at what you’ve been doing in the past few months and weeks (or years) leading up to this lost-self-scenario.

My example would be that I used to take on every project I’d ever wanted to do ALL AT ONCE and proceed to give myself a deadline of yesterday. Time waits for no one I used to tell myself. A couple weeks into this self-imposed boot camp I’m bedridden—binge watching Netflix and wearing the same clothes from last week.

The point is that the patterns are easy to spot once we look for them. Can you say warning signs?!

2. Are you pushing yourself too hard?

Throwing yourself off meet pushing yourself too hard. I’m sure you two will get along great. You have so much in common.

We all know that pushing leads to collapse or burnout or collapse and burnout. Even inanimate objects experience this. As an example, did you know that if you push a coffee maker too hard and make it pump out cup after cup without a break that it will eventually start projectile vomiting water across your kitchen counter? Or, so I’ve heard.

Anyway, we all know that pushing ourselves too hard is a recipe for disaster. Look at what you can do in pieces, one after the other.

How can you space projects out so that you have time to breathe in between?

When can you take time off even if it’s just an afternoon to spend in the park?

Awareness is key so make sure to be on alert for when you’re pushing yourself as opposed to having a healthy motivation for your schedule.

3. Are you asking for help?

Our society can no longer worship the individual. The individual is part of the whole. The individual is part of the group and community that we need so much.

We need that collaboration and support.

We need to feel connected to others as we go for our dreams in life.

Collaboration, community and relationships are the most important principles in life today—aside from sharing love. Without our community behind or with us, we are always going to feel lost or off.

Find your people—whether it’s a social group, exercise group, political group or spiritual group—stay connected. Ask for help. Reach out and do things with others who have a common goal.

4. Getting that desperate feeling

Sometimes we start to panic and feel really out of it. Maybe we’ve gone so far that we can’t really find our way back home to ourselves. Its ok, we’ve all been there. The way back is to reconnect to our True Self.

Find time in the morning or at night to breathe deeply and envision roots growing from your feet into the centre of the earth.

Spend time with your eyes closed and feel the communion with your True Self. Do this regularly so that you always maintain that connection. The source of most anxiety and feeling of confusion is due to the fact that we’ve disconnected from who we really are.

5. What do you love?

What you love is who you are.

What you love is an expression of your life.

When you connect to that, you are connected to your True Self, your core.

This is the quickest way to feel like yourself again:

Reaffirm what you love.

Make a list.

Tell someone.

Make plans to express what you love in the world.

You can’t feel out of it when you are doing or being what you love—it is impossible.

Try to use these five tips as a maintenance tool or a sign post—when you start to feel wobbly go back to one of these steps. And the thing to remember is that no matter how off you may feel, you are never far from your True Self.

Remember: YOU are home.

I would love to hear how you connect to yourself or what you love. Share below in the comments!

Have you ever wondered if your spiritual efforts are of any use? I mean, is there really a point to any of it? I wonder the same thing almost every day. Which is why I invite you into my psyche (not psycho, psyche) for a quick visit. I wouldn’t stay very long or things will get a bit weird. I hardly know you.

As long as you promise to get in and get out, I will open up the curtain to the inner workings of my mind. Think of it as a bizarre meetup group that you wish you’d never gone to.

But seriously, I hope you enjoy this pointless, fictional illustration of the ups and downs of being on a spiritual journey. After you read it, I’m sure you’ll agree that you should just give it all up and become a professional poker player.

I keep going and walk it off—the swelling isn’t too noticeable. It looks like I stuffed a loaf of bread in my sock, but nothing a constant amount of pressure can’t improve.

Fast forward (because this is already boring): I’m hanging by my fingernails from the summit. “Um, Universe a little help?”

“Just let go!” he yells down from the top.

Really? Well, I guess I could give it a little trust and faith and all that. Here goes: I LET GO.

Plummeting towards the earth at break neck speed, I start to panic.

“Build your wings on the way down? Who the fuck thought of that plan?!”

Just as my nose is about to hit the bottom, a majestic flying horse gallantly swoops me up. We ascend into the heavens once again.

Ahhh…God is great. I feel so alive! What a beautiful view up here. ALL IS WELL.

I feel at one with everything, especially with this strong horse! I feel so much love and I could kiss everyone--EVEN the jerk who stole my seat at Starbucks last week. My heart is as warm and fuzzy as a box of kittens.

I’m too drunk on love to notice that my winged specimen of grace has tipped forward. He drops me from a height of 1000ft into a predator infested jungle.

Umpf! I hit the ground, flattened. “Thanks for the ride, four-legged one!” I squeak. He’s gone. Well, that was rude.

Lying on my back I think, I could really go for a plate of fries right now. This spiritual survival shit makes me hungry.

After a few hours of shaking my fist at the powers that be, I gather myself up and step through the mud, past snakes and unidentifiable deadly creatures, looking for shelter. Eventually, I come upon a Rabbit. Peter Rabbit, I assume.

I feel a real kinship and begin to tell him my problems. He blinks and hops away. Snow White, I am apparently not.

A couple of miles and a bad case of poison ivy later, I come upon a cottage. This is it! Just like in The Shack! I’m saved.

I go inside and a lovely woman with long red hair greets me. She gestures to the chair by the fire and hands me a mug of tea. Smiling, she says, “You need to practice being grateful, my child.” She is about 35ish and I’m middle aged. Awkward.

“Mother… er … can I call you that? I assure you I’m very grateful for my life. Like the time I fell from the summit of Mt Everest, being thrown to the ground by a giant winged horse and crawling through Poison Ivy with low blood sugar. I am eternally grateful for these mind-bending opportunities. But when does it start to get good?”

“It’s all in the way you look at it. It’s either a failure or a learning. Everything is happening FOR you, not TO you.”

Hmm … so if I punched her in the mouth, it would be FOR her. I mull this over.

Presently, I fall asleep by the fire, with visions of violence dancing in my head … all through the night not a creature is stirring, not even a mouse.

I wake up in my own bed, in my normal apartment, on a normal Tuesday at normal o’clock. Had it all been a dream? It couldn’t be! It was too real.

Then I remember I have a Chakra Reshaping appointment scheduled for ten! I throw on my yoga pants, grab my double latte and run out the door. Today is a good day and I’m very grateful to be alive. Grateful mostly that my dream was just a dream AND thank goodness I don’t have poison ivy. That shit is terrible.

I used to think that I would literally never find relief from my longterm health issues: skin, digestive pain/imbalance and massive anxiety.

At one point I seriously thought I’d spend the rest of my life like a vegetable on medication, completely dysfunctional and of no use to anyone.

I had tried everything to make my symptoms go away.

I had put all my energy into “getting rid of the problem.”

Nothing was working: I was at my wit’s end.

I still felt awful and I accepted that I would probably always feel awful.

THERE WAS NO WAY OUT

We can paint ourselves into a corner sometimes.

We are not able to see the solution.

We really don’t even know what the problem is.

Here is a truth bomb that changed everything for me:

OUR SYMPTOMS ARE NOT THE PROBLEM, WE ARE THE PROBLEM

Your perspective of the problem is off.

Your solutions aren’t addressing the cause of the problem.

Your actions are not healing the ACTUAL CAUSES OF YOUR HEALTH PROBLEMS.

I know this all sounds harsh but you need a wake-up call so you don’t spend twenty years figuring things out (like I did).

HOW TO SHIFT

1. Ask your health issue what it is trying to tell you. Journal about it. Meditate on it. Listen.

2. Get in touch with your body everyday—ask what your body needs, how you’re feeling, spend time tuning in physically to your body.

3. Look at your life patterns emotionally: what is your dominant experience to life? (ex. Disappointment, resentment, anger, fear of being criticized). Journal about it. Meditate on it. Listen.

THESE THREE TECHNIQUES WILL PROFOUNDLY SHIFT YOUR LIFE AND GET YOU IN TOUCH WITH WHO YOU REALLY ARE: YOUR TRUE SELF. YOUR TRUE SELF KNOWS ALL THE ANSWERS AND IS PATIENTLY WAITING FOR YOU TO EMBRACE YOUR TRANSFORMATION.

Then you'll want to learn what The Key to Healing Chronic Acne That No One is Talking About

So happy to have my article in the amazing and spectacular Spiritual Badass Magazine created by the original sparkly and glittery badass--Amethyst Mahoney! Tons of informative and fun information for the badasses out there changing the world.

Have you literally tried everything under the sun to deal with your stubborn acne and IBS?

Does it feel like you’ll never have freedom from massive stomach pain and breakouts?

Do you honestly believe that nothing will work for you?

I used to feel like that.

I thought that only other people had clear skin or could eat anything they want.

I thought that only other people enjoyed a night out without worrying about every little thing they ate.

I thought that I was meant to suffer and God was punishing me.

I couldn’t understand why my acne and IBS wouldn’t get better.

I tried it all.

Antibiotics, Accutane, Topical creams.

Chinese herbs, acupuncture, homeopathy.

I became a Holistic Nutritionist.

I went to the extreme with cutting out everything.

I didn’t enjoy my life AND the acne and IBS didn’t get better.

Until I discovered the reason my chronic acne and IBS wouldn’t go away.

I WASN’T DEALING WITH THE ROOT CAUSE.

This is the secret.

As soon as you discover the root cause of your symptoms—you are home free.

I healed the root cause and:

My skin cleared up.

My IBS symptoms stopped.

My anxiety was gone.

I felt alive!

I felt confident!

I felt beautiful!

I FELT FREE

As a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and Spiritual Mentor, I personally struggled with acne and IBS for 20 years until I discovered these 3 simple steps that changed my life. It is my SOUL PURPOSE to help you discover and heal the root cause of your acne and IBS.

If you’re ready to uncover the internal emotions and other mechanisms creating your skin and digestive imbalances …

If you’re ready to embark on a journey to your True Self …

If you’re ready to stop chasing all the things and actually find THE THING that keeps your acne and IBS flared up …

Join me for my FREE WEBINAR 3 Simple Steps You Absolutely Need to Take If You Want Clear Skin (Even if You've Tried Everything) JANUARY 9, 2018 AT 2PM PST.

During this powerful and life-changing webinar you will learn:

• What is Causing Your Acne (it is different for everyone)• Why Your Acne will not go away--despite all your efforts• Effective steps to clear skin (so you can get out of trial and error hell)

Bonus: You'll also get my best tips as a holistic nutritionist on what foods to eat and supplements to take for healthy, glowing skin!

FOR LIVE VIEWERS ONLY: DON'T MISS MY POWERFUL GROUP HEALING ACTIVATION TO CLEAR AWAY ANY STAGNANT ENERGY PREVENTING YOU FROM HEALING YOUR ACNE.

The road to clear skin is paved with hope (and techniques that work of course)--spread some hope and tell your friends who need this powerful healing and training webinar. Sign up here

Chronic skin, digestive and female health conditions will NEVER HEAL and in fact they will continue to get worse, unless you deal with your underlying emotional traumas and stuck emotions.

My community is about helping women with chronic skin, digestion and female health conditions who are ready to heal their emotional traumas so they can finally feel safe and at home in their body. If you're ready for peace of mind and freedom, you're in the right place!

NOBODY ELSE IS ADDRESSING THE UNDERLYING ISSUES THAT KEEP YOU FEELING STRESSED, ANXIOUS AND FRUSTRATED YEAR AFTER YEAR

Here are some of the amazing benefits you will receive in this sacred and uplifting group:

Feel relieved as you finally learn the root causes of your physical conditions.

Feel supported with deeply healing tools to unravel and clear toxic emotions so that you are no longer at war with your body.

Feel calm and centred the more you connect to your True Self and have the clarity you've been looking for.

FB LIVE WEEKLY SCHEDULE

Put this in your calendar so you don't miss it. Join me live in this group exclusively:

Freedom Friday 11 am PST--readings and energy work

I can’t wait to get to know you and to give you all my personal and professional healing resources to help you feel at home and safe in your body.

Love EleanorP.S. Favorite this group so you don’t miss any of the valuable content and resources!

Acceptance Monday: What are you willing to accept about yourself this week (no matter what)?

Truly Me Tuesday: Who are you at your core? I stand for RADICAL SELF-AWARENESS AND SELF-ACCEPTANCE. This is the key to true healing. Tell us one thing that lights you up about yourself!

We Love Food Wednesday: Time to celebrate food and talk about food! What do you love to eat? Also, what questions do you have around food--I will answer intuitively and from my experience of being a holistic nutritionist for 10 years.

Aha Thursday: Post your insights, realizations, aha moments, downloads or wisdom of the week. Did you have a new insight into your healing journey?

Fave Friday: Share your favourite quotes, photos, memories, things that make you laugh, places…it can be on any topic!

Soothing Sunday: Share your fave way to relax, recharge and unwind.

POSTS THAT ARE ENCOURAGED

Participating in the daily themes, telling us about yourself, sharing stories that are uplifting or inspirational

Helpful resources that you would like to share with the group—that helped you personally

Any questions or comments about your own journey

Requests for support and encouragement if you're having a difficult or challenging time

Questions about the HEAL YOUR EMOTIONS, HEAL YOUR BODY community: for clarification or when in need of more details

POSTS THAT ARE NOT TOLERATED

Offering UNSOLICITED (meaning the person did not ask for advice or guidance) counselling, therapy or coaching to other members-it is fine to offer love, support and encouragement

Insults, shaming or ridicule of others' posts and sharing

No spamming of business offers or marketing/commercial posts; this is not a group to promote your business

Happy St Patrick's Day everyone! In honor of true Irish storytelling, sit back and relax while I tell you a wee story about my adventures finding an ancestral grave...

This is the actual blog post I wrote in May 2007 from Armagh, Northern Ireland:

the past few days brought me back to my ancestors. i landed in armagh on monday night at the youth hostel. myself and one other person happened to be there and the staff member. we ended up watching tv and sitting in this living room that holds about 40 people! a little bit strange to say the least...not the height of tourist season.

i tour the city the next day-easy enough on foot.

i admired all the absolutely beautiful churches and cathedrals.

i stood in the mall area-a central green park with the museum on one side and several churches surrounding it.

i walked through st patrick's trian-an interactive centre with displays and info about the book of armagh, st patrick and the history of armagh including a giant talking Gulliver in the Gulliver's Travels section!

the city itself wraps around several hills with breathtaking views.

the tourist info centre was my home base as i went back and forth nearly 10 times in the four days i was there. i met a very nice lady, Phyllis Healy, another possible relation :) , who took me under her wing. she made phone calls, she asked around and pulled some strings. she managed to get the researcher to look up some family names for me and have the info made up in a 24hr period! i also went to the armagh co. museum and looked in the Griffith Valuations-info on landholdings. i found 4 Francis O'Hares (my great-great-great grandfather!) in the book. i compared this info with the stuff given to me by the researcher and once i visited the Catholic Church in Armagh, i narrowed it down to a small town, Camlough (Camloch). i found that this town covered the Parish of Lower Killevy, listed in the info from the researcher.

so, i hopped on the bus this morning, lugging my rolling suitcase onto the city bus-i was the only passenger-and got off in Camlough. the bus driver directed me up to the top of chapel road. i rolled my suitcase 6 blocks up the hill to the Church of St Malachy, Carrickcruppin. it sits on the top of a hill and the graveyard spills down both sides of the hill. i put my suitcase inside the foyer of the church (not a soul in sight) and wandered around the graveyard. i didn't really know what i was looking for and i'd been told several times that this was really a needle-in-a-haystack situation. two separate people insisted that i didn't have enough information to know where the ancestors were, if they stayed there, etc and i'd be lucky to find anything.

for some reason i wanted to look anyway.

i made a zig zag up and down the hills, looking at all the old headstones-some had nothing on them. i thought this is really pushing it.

it was really cloudy and grey.

i kept looking but somewhat casually. i watched some people come and go to place flowers on graves and leave.

as i was about to leave i thought i'd just go over to a little area that looked interesting. my spider senses were tingling.

i glanced over my shoulder and saw-Catherine & Mary O'Hare! My great-great grandmother and her sister...

this is no exaggeration when i tell you that at that exact moment, the sun burst through the clouds. straight out of the movies! i looked over and my jaw dropped. the sun stayed out for a minute or so as i took pictures and just sat in awed silence.

i felt really at home in that place. the church was very peaceful and comforting when i stood inside it. i imagined that that very church held my great-great-great grandparents, Francis O'Hare and Elizabeth Smyth when they married on February 23, 1841...

awesome...

Here are some pictures of the city and the gravesite/church in Camlough. Also some of the sites i visited-Eiman Macha an ancient site believed to be from the Bronze Age and some other spots around town.

How do you make it through the day when the whole world is in Love EXCEPT for you?

First of all, you and I both know that not everyone is in love—there are at least two of us sitting here right now and there may be dozens more out there. Regardless of the facts, it IS what Hallmark Cards, Lindt Chocolate and De Beers Diamonds wants you to feel like. Which is why we have to stick together like that saying goes: misery loves company.

Here are my two cents on what it's like to be single on Valentine's Day: it sucks. And any Single who says they don't care is a liar.

1. My promise to you in this letter

I will NOT tell you that all you need to do is love yourself.

I will NOT tell you to look for the hidden blocks to love that keep you from meeting “The One.”

And I certainly WILL NOT tell you how awesome it is to be single.

2. Pick up a Valentine's Day Survival pack

1 box of tissues (let's not even try to deny that this won't be needed at some point).

Netflix account or access to your 1990s DVD collection of Romantic Movies. For example, Pretty Woman or Sleepless in Seattle (don't go halfway on this; you want to use up all of the tissues).

Your favorite blanket and slippers, preferably unwashed so that you can feel especially sorry for yourself.

Carbs (not the complex kind, the shitty kind).

Chocolate (make sure you purchase these before Valentine's Day—you don't want to endure the pity stares of the well-meaning clerk at 7-Eleven when you unload a basketful of chocolate hearts, while obviously wearing your PJs under your coat).

Your furry friend or alternatively, someone who won't try to talk you out of crying, wailing or otherwise making a fool out of yourself. Today you have every right to make a damn fool out of yourself.

A large bottle of alcohol or a large bottle of sugary liquid or both.

3. Suggested Itinerary to make the intolerable, tolerable

Call in sick with the stomach flu (as in you won't be able to stomach the Valentine's Day cheer at the office)

If you must go to work, arrive in black with a veil over your face and tell everyone you had a death in the family (anyone with a brain in their head will give you a wide berth).

Bring your children to a relative or trusted friend's house so that you can let it all hang out at home.

Buy takeout for dinner—preferably Chinese food as this will be the only place where the staff is used to awkward and antisocial people arriving to pick up their food wearing their PJs under their coat.

Watch the first movie (see above).

Cry.

Get angry and yell at the wall.

Cry some more.

Laugh.

Cry again because now you feel like a crazy person.

Watch the second movie.

Pass out on the couch and wake up with pillow indents and a heavy sigh of relief. It's February 15th! You made it!

Remember that no matter what you decide to do today, just love yourself. Kidding! You should've seen your face! That was a good one.

But seriously, you will want to sign up for my FREE guided meditation Align with Your True Self because there is nothing better than being connected to yourself no matter what is going on in your life:

I love this time of year. I celebrate Christmas and as with any holiday we may be celebrating, there is nothing better than traditions. Here is what creates meaning for me:

1. Holiday baking party with friends. As a Registered Holistic Nutritionist with part Italian heritage, I obviously love food! It is no exaggeration when I say that an entire phone conversation with my mom or my nana can be about food--how we prepared it, what ingredients we used and how much we enjoyed it. Aside from cooking I also adore baking. My version of baking that is (think healthier versions, whole food ingredients and organic ingredients). For the past five years I host a party where I get together with some baking enthusiasts and we whisk stuff, blend more stuff and lick spoons for a couple of fun-filled hours. Note: not all recipes turn out, like the time we created a glass casserole dish full of fruit soup with a soggy oatmeal bottom (our unfortunate version of berry cobbler). C'est la vie.

2. Watching the Main Four. Elf with Will Farrell. A Christmas Carol with Alistair Simms (the scary black and white version that makes me bawl every time--"Forgive me, Fran, forgive me!"). A Christmas Story (you'll shoot your eye out, kid!). It's a Wonderful Life (I've probably watched this a total of ...lets see... 100 times).

3. Talking to relatives overseas. Anyone who has called overseas on the holidays is well aware how similar it is to a Saturday Night Live skit. Scene: Italian Nana with a tiny address book falling apart at the seams rifles through the pages for forty-five minutes trying to find the five hundred digit phone number to dial. Then she argues with you for another twenty-minutes over the country code versus the area code. Once you actually dial the number, it is busy and you don't get through for another hour. Then comes the minute possibility that no one in the small Italian or Croatian town is home or they have most likely gone to bed--at 8:00pm. If we do get to speak to someone this is my dilemma: I don't speak Italian well enough to hold a conversation and my relatives in Italy and Croatia don't speak English well enough to understand me, so I basically get on the phone when it's my turn and say, "Buon Natale" "Come Stai?" "Grazie" and other words like that, hoping they are in the right order and sprinkled into the conversation at the right time. My nana used to translate for me, but she's not at the point where that will happen anymore, so I'll have to think of something else now. On the bright side, I'm Facebook friends with my Italian cousin and he can say a few English phrases, so maybe he can still pass on my holiday cheer from me to them!

4. Wishing that everyone was in one place. I am well aware that I made the decision to move across the country away from the friends I grew up with and my parents, but it still sucks when the reality of the holidays kicks in. My family is very spread out across Canada and Europe. A lot of my time over the holidays is spent on the phone. My vision is to one day hold an epic party with everyone altogether in one room. This may be an impossible fantasy but one can dream!

5. Being present to the magic of the season. I feel more joy during this time of year. It doesn't have anything to do with my circumstances; it is a feeling that takes over and moves me out of any sad, frustrating or challenging times. I've had horrible and wonderful holidays and everything in between. The one constant is the feeling of magic. Tap into that feeling and rise above your life circumstances--connect with the energy of joy. Need help with that? Sign up for my newsletter below for inspiration, encouragement and tips!

I would love to hear about your family traditions. Comment below and share your top 3 faves.

Do people try to talk you out of doing something that seems impossible? Do they tell you it's a waste of time? Well after watching this you can tell them where to go! There is no such thing as impossible...